Karen G Berry
@karentheberry.bsky.social
I'm a writer in Portland, Oregon who turns a sharp eye to the foibles of humanity. I'm also getting old. These two attributes complement each other nicely.
I blog here when I blog: https://karengberry.mywriting.network/
I blog here when I blog: https://karengberry.mywriting.network/
This morning I dispatched a mosquito, which made me wonder what happened to #Zika. Before 2020, it was the big scary thing coming to get us. Is it still out there? As a matter of fact, yes. But we have so much else to worry about that we simply stopped paying attention.
December 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
This morning I dispatched a mosquito, which made me wonder what happened to #Zika. Before 2020, it was the big scary thing coming to get us. Is it still out there? As a matter of fact, yes. But we have so much else to worry about that we simply stopped paying attention.
Merry Christmas. Here's something of mine published today in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social about a bad manager and a very happy day.
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...
Just Like Christmas
How my impossible manager’s comeuppance was the best workplace gift I could have received
opensecretsmagazine.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Merry Christmas. Here's something of mine published today in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social about a bad manager and a very happy day.
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...
Reposted by Karen G Berry
Delighted to announce our nominations for the Pushcart Prize. All can be read at thin-skin.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Delighted to announce our nominations for the Pushcart Prize. All can be read at thin-skin.com
I have a short story up in The Persimmon Tree! My roots are showing--my midwestern roots that is.
persimmontree.org/winter-2026/...
persimmontree.org/winter-2026/...
Mysteries of June and August – Persimmon Tree
persimmontree.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I have a short story up in The Persimmon Tree! My roots are showing--my midwestern roots that is.
persimmontree.org/winter-2026/...
persimmontree.org/winter-2026/...
I have a wee flash piece up this morning, one of a few things that are circling out there, waiting for publication. It's a tiny moment and I am as surprised by the kind comments as anything else.
flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2025/09...
flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2025/09...
Paint Chips
She ran her finger around the margin where there was only white, no terra cotta or paprika or burnt umber or ginger spice. “I like white.” Her voice was so soft that he almost couldn’t hear her.&nb…
flashfictionmagazine.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I have a wee flash piece up this morning, one of a few things that are circling out there, waiting for publication. It's a tiny moment and I am as surprised by the kind comments as anything else.
flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2025/09...
flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2025/09...
Thoughts on trees, solitude, and writing in a room of one's own.
karengberry.mywriting.network/2025/09/24/i...
karengberry.mywriting.network/2025/09/24/i...
Into the Woods a post about forests and words on I Am Not A Pie
woods and forests and what they have to do with writing
karengberry.mywriting.network
September 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Thoughts on trees, solitude, and writing in a room of one's own.
karengberry.mywriting.network/2025/09/24/i...
karengberry.mywriting.network/2025/09/24/i...
I have two poems in here! And, I am writing again.
www.farmgirlpress.com/store/p/fall...
www.farmgirlpress.com/store/p/fall...
Fall 2025 Issue 3 of The Gilded Weathervane — FarmGirl Press
Containing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, and photography this issue celebrates all that rural fall has to offer.
www.farmgirlpress.com
September 23, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I have two poems in here! And, I am writing again.
www.farmgirlpress.com/store/p/fall...
www.farmgirlpress.com/store/p/fall...
I have a short story up! "Wet Rain" is in the newest issue of Thin Skin. Enjoy.
thin-skin.com/shortstory/w...
thin-skin.com/shortstory/w...
Wet Rain - Thin Skin
Her eyes move from table to table, person to person. He’d somehow forgotten this in the last six months. He’d forgotten her restless eyes tracking whoever walked by, leaving the impression that he was...
thin-skin.com
August 31, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I have a short story up! "Wet Rain" is in the newest issue of Thin Skin. Enjoy.
thin-skin.com/shortstory/w...
thin-skin.com/shortstory/w...
Such a great post:
countercraft.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...
countercraft.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...
Why You Should Still Build Your Raft of Art in the Sea of Slop
A little cri du coeur about working on your work and avoiding all the noise
countercraft.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Such a great post:
countercraft.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...
countercraft.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...
Reposted by Karen G Berry
just been camping for the first time in my life and i have some valuable camping advice: take everything with you. Everything in your house. Take your whole house with you and live in it. Live inside your house, at home. Stay at home, living in your house with everything in your house.
August 4, 2025 at 6:33 PM
just been camping for the first time in my life and i have some valuable camping advice: take everything with you. Everything in your house. Take your whole house with you and live in it. Live inside your house, at home. Stay at home, living in your house with everything in your house.
Reposted by Karen G Berry
Good one from Andy Borowitz.
May 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Good one from Andy Borowitz.
Reposted by Karen G Berry
At 1:34 AM Trump called for DOJ to investigate Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, Springsteen, Oprah and others for crimes, he then made another deranged post about it at 9:11 AM, and the lead story of the day on MSNBC and CNN continues to be Joe Biden in 2023.
May 19, 2025 at 1:48 PM
At 1:34 AM Trump called for DOJ to investigate Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, Springsteen, Oprah and others for crimes, he then made another deranged post about it at 9:11 AM, and the lead story of the day on MSNBC and CNN continues to be Joe Biden in 2023.
Reposted by Karen G Berry
They're talking about "water based" cooking now. Cooking things in water instead of oils. It's soup. They're making soup.
May 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
They're talking about "water based" cooking now. Cooking things in water instead of oils. It's soup. They're making soup.
I love getting the New York Times "Breaking News" updates. I just wish the news wouldn't break ME so often.
May 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I love getting the New York Times "Breaking News" updates. I just wish the news wouldn't break ME so often.
I'm "go to the mailbox to read rejection letters" old. Now I've transferred all that existential angst to my email inbox.
May 16, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I'm "go to the mailbox to read rejection letters" old. Now I've transferred all that existential angst to my email inbox.
Last week, I stopped a pair of crows from killing a bunny kit. In retaliation, they just got into my garbage. Tit for tat. I deprived them of one meal, so they helped themselves to another.
May 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Last week, I stopped a pair of crows from killing a bunny kit. In retaliation, they just got into my garbage. Tit for tat. I deprived them of one meal, so they helped themselves to another.
Now that I'm retired, I get most of my steps in by watering houseplants.
May 16, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Now that I'm retired, I get most of my steps in by watering houseplants.
Reposted by Karen G Berry
Dear senators who think you can’t do anything,
Today, Senator Van Hollen - through diplomatic pressure - got a meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. So that thing you’re thinking about doing? DO IT.
~ All of Us
Today, Senator Van Hollen - through diplomatic pressure - got a meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. So that thing you’re thinking about doing? DO IT.
~ All of Us
April 18, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Dear senators who think you can’t do anything,
Today, Senator Van Hollen - through diplomatic pressure - got a meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. So that thing you’re thinking about doing? DO IT.
~ All of Us
Today, Senator Van Hollen - through diplomatic pressure - got a meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. So that thing you’re thinking about doing? DO IT.
~ All of Us
There's something hilarious about those "You're on a roll! Let's level up!" emails from @linkedin.com arriving six weeks before I retire...
March 7, 2025 at 1:43 AM
There's something hilarious about those "You're on a roll! Let's level up!" emails from @linkedin.com arriving six weeks before I retire...
Very proud that "Fully Grown" has found a place at Herstry. It's about motherhood, dwarfism, and how we grow.
herstryblg.com/theme/2025/2...
herstryblg.com/theme/2025/2...
Fully Grown — HerStry
While my oldest daughter was growing up we attended Little People of America functions, though only one person in our family was short. We went to city and regional gatherings in Portland and Seattle,...
herstryblg.com
March 1, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Very proud that "Fully Grown" has found a place at Herstry. It's about motherhood, dwarfism, and how we grow.
herstryblg.com/theme/2025/2...
herstryblg.com/theme/2025/2...
Correction! I have a flash fiction piece called "Monument" in this issue of Inknest! And Katrina Gould has a review! The RealDoll haiku are coming in The Offing.
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ink-nest-p...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ink-nest-p...
Ink Nest Poetry - A Literary Magazine|Paperback
www.barnesandnoble.com
February 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Correction! I have a flash fiction piece called "Monument" in this issue of Inknest! And Katrina Gould has a review! The RealDoll haiku are coming in The Offing.
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ink-nest-p...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ink-nest-p...
Reposted by Karen G Berry
If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general.
If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.
If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.
February 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general.
If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.
If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.
Today (and probably today only), my poem "A Professional Beauty" pops up first at The Ekphrastic Review! www.ekphrastic.net
The Ekphrastic Review
the ekphrastic review: visual art and writing, ekphrastic poetry, ekphrastic flash fiction, ekphrastic prose, ekphrastic essays, writing and literature responding to visual art
www.ekphrastic.net
February 17, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today (and probably today only), my poem "A Professional Beauty" pops up first at The Ekphrastic Review! www.ekphrastic.net